Liturgical Year

The birth of the Messiah

6-7 weeks.

• Advent: Four Sundays prior to Christmas day.
• Christmas: December 25 to Baptism of the Lord.

Following Jesus as a disciple

30-34 weeks.

• Ordinary Time: varies.

The death and resurrection of Jesus

14 weeks.

• Lent: 7 weeks.
• Easter: 7 weeks.

The Liturgical Year also contains Holy Days of Obligation; the number varies by rite and region.

Dynamic Seasons

• The Advent season leads to Christmas day.
• The Christmas season ends with the Baptism of the Lord, the beginning of Jesus' public ministry (i.e., the time that He spent in the company of His disciples).
• Lent leads to Easter Sunday.
• The Easter season culminates on the day of Pentecost.
• Ordinary Time ends with the Feast of Christ, the King. Unlike all of the other feasts of the Church year, the Feast of Christ, the King is concerned with a future event: the end of everything.

Before the development of the Liturgical Year, there were four times of fasting and prayer (Ember Days) to break the year into four quarters.

Key dates for 2012

Jan 8	Epiphany
Jan 9	Baptism of the Lord
Feb 22	Ash Wednesday
Apr 8	Easter
May 27	Pentecost
Jun 10	Corpus Christi
Nov 25	Christ the King
Dec 2	First Sunday of Advent

Links

• "Liturgical year" (Wikipedia).
• United States Conference of Catholic Bishops, 2012 Liturgical Calendar.